Rhetorical Terms #2 Flashcards
Narrative
First-person stories involving real or imagined events, characters, and settings.
Ex: Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie
Point of View
The person from whom the events of the story are told.
Paradox
A seemingly contradictory situation which is actually true.
Ex: “You can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without getting a job.”
Parody
An exaggerated imitation of a serious work for humorous purposes. It borrows words or phrases from an original, and pokes fun at it.
Ex: The Simpsons often parody Shakespeare plays. Saturday Night Live also parodies famous persons and events.
Prose
Any written work that follows a basic grammatical structure; language that follows the natural patterns found in everyday speech.
(Think words and phrases arranged into sentences and paragraphs)
Rhetoric
The art of effective communication and persuasion.
Rhetorical Question
Question not asked for information but for effect.
Ex: “The angry parent asked the child, ‘Are you finished interrupting me?’” In this case, the parent does not expect a reply, but simply wants to draw the child’s attention to the rudeness of interrupting.
Satire
A work that reveals a critical attitude toward some element of life to a humorous effect.
Symbolism
Anything that represents or stands for something else. Usually a symbol is something concrete such as an object, actions, character…that represents something more abstract.
Ex: the Whale in Moby Dick, the river and the jungle in Heart of Darkness, and the Raven in “The Raven.”
Syntax
Grammatical arrangement of words; grouping of words.
Theme
The central idea/message/a recurring idea of a work. The theme may be directly stated in nonfiction works, although not necessarily. It is rarely stated directly in fiction.
Thesis
A statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.
Tone
A writer’s attitude toward his subject matter revealed through diction, figurative language and organization. To identify tone, consider how the piece would sound if read aloud (or how the author wanted it to sound aloud).
Tone can be: playful, serious, businesslike, sarcastic, humorous, formal, somber, etc.
Understatement
The ironic minimizing of fact; presents something as less significant than it is. The effect can frequently be humorous.
“Our defense played valiantly, and held the other team to
merely eight touchdowns in the first quarter.”
Exigence
An issue, problem, or situation that causes or prompts someone to write or speak.
